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BY THE NUMBERS: German Chancellor Angela Merkel is 11 years into her job – and looking for another four years. But that puts her less than halfway towards the post-war record for leading a European democracy, the record held by former Finnish president Urho Kekkonen. Aftenposten has the details. h/t Øystein Kløvstad Langberg.

It’s EU competition day today, which is fitting …

SPOTTED: European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager shopping at the Apple store in Brussels.

**A message from the EPP Group: From readers to leaders — propaganda is effective because we have grown complacent and too much of the public agenda is left unexplained. Something must be done to counter an escalating, sophisticated wave of propaganda generated by Russia and by Islamic radicals. But what? Read more on the roots of the problem and possible solutions on countering propaganda.**

COMMISSION — PRESSURE MOUNTS ON VESTAGER IN HUNGARIAN NUCLEAR STATE AID CASE: Hungary is already celebrating EU approval for a €12.5 billion nuclear power complex to be built with Russian money and contractors. The Commission’s competition department hasn’t signed off on one crucial aspect yet: a potentially illegal state aid gift.

Vestager must now decide whether to green-light the Hungarian complex or possibly face off with Russia, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, as well as the German EPP.

Court action looming: If Vestager withdraws the case, the Austrian government said, via its energy minister Reinhold Mitterlehner, that it may sue the Commission. German and Austrian energy companies may be close behind.

The geopolitics: The project and case are “widely viewed as one of the most significant examples of Moscow using energy diplomacy to secure strategic influence in Central Europe,” according to the POLITICO reporting team.

A compromise? “Even if investigators conclude Hungary is subsidizing the project, the Commission can still approve the support but impose conditions,” they write.

OETTINGER-WATCH …

Leading budgetary control committee members in the European Parliament have moved to block plans for a public candidate hearing for Günther Oettinger who is slated for a promotion to the rank of Commission Vice President, said Greens MEP Javor Benedek.

Led by Ingeborg Grässle, a German EPP colleague of Oettinger, the committee prefers Oettinger to face only a closed-doors “exchange of views” with party group leaders.

Socialist leader digs in over Oettinger public hearing: Gianni Pittella, chairman of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, is on a collision course with the EPP group – and, potentially, his own president, Martin Schulz.

“He seems to be making one gaffe after another,” Pittella said of Oettinger Tuesday. “We believe that he should now be subject to a formal confirmation hearing before he takes up the budget post.”

COMMISSIONER ETHICS — COMMISSIONERS TWEAK JUNCKER PROPOSALS: All commissioners agree that Commission presidents should face a three-year wait before taking up other paid employment. But suggestions that commissioners themselves should volunteer to wait three years as well were tweaked Tuesday, according to a Commission source. Watch this space.

Commission still sitting onBarroso decision: The Commission’s ethics committee says José Manuel Barroso, the former president of the Commission, didn’t break any rules in going to work for Goldman Sachs. But no formal decision has been taken yet by the Commission on whether to launch any legal action against its former president.

‘LAST CHANCE’ — COMMISSION OFFERS SECOND CHANCE TO COMPANIES IN FINANCIAL TROUBLE: New rules have been proposed to create an EU-wide standard for helping troubled companies restructure before falling into bankruptcy, and to make it easier for business people to get a second chance if they fail with one company. Jim Brunsden compared the reforms in the FT to a Chapter 11-style approach.

COMMISSION — BRITS CAN BE PROMOTED AFTER ALL: Simon Mordue, a British Commission official has been appointed to deputy director general for migration and home affairs. The Italian government is furious about the appointment.

Nigel Farage, UKIP’s leader for now, is one Briton Theresa May wants to avoid promoting.

THE EU AND POLAND — ALL IS NOT LOST: Paul Taylor writes for POLITICO that despite pessimism in Brussels, European leaders can do much to rein in Kaczyński, starting with a continued tough Russia stance, which is support Kaczyński desperately needs.

PARLIAMENT — MEPS SET TO DITCH TURKEY: A broad coalition of lawmakers are calling for an end to Ankara’s EU membership talks, in response to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s curtailment of democratic rights in the wake of July’s failed coup attempt.

Sinan Ülgen, of the Istanbul-based think tank EDAM argues that voting on this parliament resolution “would eliminate what’s left of the EU’s leverage over Ankara and further erode the credibility of Turkish liberals.”

PARLIAMENT — SWEDISH MEP FACES CENSURE FOR STAFF HARASSMENT: In the news in Sweden: Liberal MEP Jasenko Selimovic will receive the verdict today after an investigation into alleged harassment of four former assistants.

EU AGREES TO NEW CONFLICT MINERALS RULES:Peter Žiga, Slovak minister, celebrated that national governments had reached an informal agreement with the Parliament on conflict minerals. The rules will force companies to source tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold responsibly.

Amnesty International says there are dangerous loopholes exempting smaller traders of these minerals. The deal is expected to be finalized December 7.

NATO & DEFENSE — SNARK FROM FORMER CHIEF RASMUSSEN: Anders Fogh Rasmussen wrote to clients of his Rasmussen Global consultancy business on Tuesday: “The ongoing discussion about an EU defense union is a wrong solution to a real problem. NATO is perfectly placed to keep Europe safe. What we need is more defense spending.”

Rasmussen adviser Fabrice Pothier added: “Europe is good business for the U.S. defense industry. The recent decision by Warsaw to drop a French offer and instead award a $1.6 billion helicopter contract to a U.S. firm is a reminder that if European allies can be reluctant fighters they are still good customers.” At the same time, MEPs backed a resolution supporting more EU defense cooperation.

ICYMI — EU SUPPORT RISES IN NEW POLLS: The latest Bertelsmann Stiftung “eupinions” survey shows Brexit succeeded where many EU politicians have failed: By improving the Union’s popularity – including in Britain. See the full story on Bertelsmann-Stiftung.

Alain Juppé fights back: The former French prime minister fought to save his political future Tuesday by attacking François Fillon as a snake oil salesman – and a proxy for ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Marine Le Pen has to pivot: The surprising rise of Fillon means National Front leader Marine Le Pen needs to rewrite her own presidential plans. And given Fillon’s stance on Russia, Islam and his invocation of strong conservative Catholic values, she should be worried.

Meddling in national elections (again)? “While it’s unclear how well Russian President Vladimir Putin will get along with Donald Trump and his team of Republican hawks, it looks as though he has already won the French presidential election,” argues Leonid Bershidsky in Bloomberg View.

Hollande’s new hope: François Hollande is thrilled about this new competitor, according to Le Monde.

Playbook tip: Take any budget deficit figures with a grain of salt. Until we know the government’s Brexit negotiating stance, it’s really quite impossible to know what its economic effects will be.

UK — LABOUR TRIES TO SAVE ITSELF – ONE NORTHERN CITY AT A TIME: Alex Spence on the effort by the U.K. opposition to bypass a bleak Westminster through local electoral campaigning.

AUSTRIA — FAR-RIGHT COMPARES GREEN PRESIDENTIAL OPPONENT TO HITLER: The Freedom Party in the city of Kapfenberg compared a picture of Green candidate Alexander van der Bellen, standing by a fence with his dog against an Alpine backdrop, with similar photos taken of Adolf Hitler.

TRUMP WORLD …

Trump’s on-again, off-again war on journalism: In case you missed it, here’s the president-elect’s New York Times interview: New York Times | POLITICO | FT |

Trump says he’ll pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership on day one. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe isn’t pleased. The deal is now “meaningless,” Abe said.

But even without the U.S., four of the 15 biggest economies in the world are still in the deal, a feat that other successful multilateral trading zones such as ASEAN cannot match.

Political elite shoots down Trump suggestion of Farage as UK Ambassador in DC: A former holder of the post, Christopher Meyer called it “barking mad” and Guy Verhofstadt, president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, said “one clown in Washington in more than enough.”

POLITICO’s Charlie Cooper: “In fewer than 140 characters, the soon-to-be most powerful man on earth put Theresa May in an impossible position.”

LEAVING — KEY DIESELGATE MEP: Spanish EPP MEP Pablo Zalba Bidegain is packing up his bags to leave the European Parliament. Zalba, who also sits on the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, was a key member of the Dieselgate committee, having served as co-rapporteur. German MEP Jens Gieseke, who served as the EPP vice-coordinator in the committee, will take his spot.

CHANGING ROLES: Marie Frenay is switching from the European Commission spokespersons’ service to start as a policy and communication assistant for Vice President Andrus Ansip December 1.

**A message from the EPP Group: At least 70 million Europeans lack adequate literacy skills, encounter difficulties when working with numbers and have poor digital skills. Globalization and digitalization have helped many, but they have also left many behind. This is why the Skills Guarantee matters. We want to help low-skilled adults tap into the benefits of globalization and digitalization. We are discussing ways of helping them acquire a minimum level of literacy, numeracy and digital skills and creating new jobs. #bringingresults**